Martinez, currently interim emergency services manager for Yolo County, is one of six Urban Search and Rescue, or USAR, team members dispatched from California this week to help with recovery operations in the large zone devastated by a tornado in Moore, just outside Oklahoma City. That assistance is part of a mutual aid compact between the 50 states. It’s a massive undertaking, given the 17-mile-long path of destruction that leveled entire neighborhoods and, at last report, had left 24 dead.

For Martinez, it’s a case of déjà vu.

He led Sacramento’s USAR team during its mission in Oklahoma City in April 1995, in the aftermath of the terrorist bombing that destroyed the Murrah Federal Building there and killed 168 people. It was a far different circumstance then, compared to now; the destruction was man-made, not natural, and the search area for potential survivors in downtown Oklahoma City was far more compact.

But the emotional nature of the work remains the same, because of a grim race against the clock. Search experts know that after 48 hours, the odds of finding a survivor in the wreckage of buildings drop significantly. In effect, the operation transforms from rescue to recovery of bodies. By Wednesday evening, the search for survivors was over.

“We always keep hope alive as much as possible,” Kelly Huston, Crisis Communications Manager for the California Emergency Management Agency, told me. “But we also understand that statistics loom heavy that the possibility of finding someone alive after a major disaster decrease exponentially. This decision isn’t taken lightly.”

It was a difficult week for Martinez and the Sacramento USAR team in 1995. The hazardous work of searching through the collapsed federal building became even more dangerous at one point, as a cold and severe thunderstorm moved in. With exposed girders serving as potential lightning rods, the search team and their dogs had to suspend their work for part of the day.

Photographer Bill Schmechel and I were in Oklahoma City that week for KCRA 3. Three clear memories stand out. First, shock and distress at word that this was an act of domestic terrorism carried out against fellow Americans. Second, the remarkable generosity of people in Oklahoma — toward visiting media and rescue teams alike. And third, the difficulty of the work, and the emotional roller coaster that USAR team members were riding.

The Sacramento team slept on the floor in a nearby telephone company building, then worked 12-hour shifts in the wreckage, searching with dogs and listening equipment. As each day passed, the distress grew with the diminishing chances of finding a survivor.

Martinez told a reporter at the time, “We felt that we just failed in our mission. It’s overwhelming.”

I heard the same sentiment from a number of the team members as they lined up on the tarmac at Tinker Air Force Base to board a cargo plane for the return trip to California.

It’s an unfortunate part of the job. It’s not known how long Martinez and his colleagues will be in Oklahoma this time, or who might be joining them. Cal-EMA’s Huston said the state hasn’t been asked yet to send additional help, but said they’re preparing to do so.

“When we see something significant happening, our emergency managers are trying to anticipate what could be requested and we informally assess the ‘what-ifs’ all the time.” Huston said.

Author Kevin Riggs is an Emmy-winning former political reporter for KCRA-TV. He is currently the station’s political analyst and a Senior Vice President at Randle Communications.